No Rajya Sabha seat for Sitaram Yechury, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan says role as party head more crucial

No Rajya Sabha seat for Sitaram Yechury, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan says role as party head more crucial

“Accepting the Congress support to send our party general secretary to the Rajya Sabha would be against and not in accordance with the political stand we have been adopting,” Pinarayi Vijayan, also a member of party Politburo, told The Indian Express in an exclusive interview.

Even as the Central Committee, the apex decision making body of the CPI(M), discusses a third Rajya Sabha term for party general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan ruled out the possibility of the party agreeing to elect Yechury from West Bengal with the support of the Congress.

“Accepting the Congress support to send our party general secretary to the Rajya Sabha would be against and not in accordance with the political stand we have been adopting,” Vijayan, also a member of party Politburo, told The Indian Express in an exclusive interview.

Vijayan added that Yechury, being the general secretary of the CPI(M), would not be able to do justice to his role as parliamentarian as his party responsibility involves travelling across the country for party works. “From my experience, I can tell you, a party general secretary naturally cannot take care of the responsibilities of a parliamentarian. Because he (being a general secretary) has to run across the country to play his role. Those who are seeking his presence in Rajya Sabha want it so because he is efficient. It is true that he is efficient, but he cannot compromise on his other role,” he reasoned, adding the “party does not want him to make any compromise on his role as a general secretary”. Click here to read this story in Malayalam.

Yechury was elected as the CPI(M) general secretary in 2015.

Asked about the view that Yechury’s presence in the house is crucial at a time when the Opposition should be united against the BJP like in 2004, Vijayan said: “The CPI(M) had to back the Congress at a time when the country faced misery after (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee ran a government of RSS-led BJP for six years. The country could not afford to see another five-year term for that government because it would have even damaged India’s parliamentary democracy. We had to avert that danger and the CPI(M) decided to support the Congress-led UPA on the basis of a common minimum program.”

“However, we know what happened and we know what kind of a stand the Congress had adopted. It was the anti-people stance of the Congress that had led to the emergence of BJP into power. We are not ready to have any kind of political alliance or friendship with such a party. Accepting the Congress support to send our party general secretary to the Rajya Sabha would be against and not in accordance with the the political stand we have been adopting,” the Kerala Chief Minister said.

He cited his own experience to buttress his argument. “I have worked as a party secretary in Kerala. I had been assigned the responsibility of party secretary while I was a minister in the state government. I had not resigned from the Assembly during that period. I could not do justice to the role as a legislator during that period. My role as a legislator had just confined to occasional visits to the Assembly,” Vijayan said.

Vijayan’s remarks comes on the day when the party’s top leadership is set to take a final call on the issue of Yechury’s re-election to the upper house. Yechury’s present term is slated to end on August 18.

With the Congress agreeing to support Yechury’s re-election, the West Bengal unit of the CPI(M) had passed a resolution seeking another term for the party general secretary. However, Kerala faction in the party opposed his candidature for a third term. The Politburo which met last month had left the decision to the Central Committee. According to party norms, no member can have more than two Rajya Sabha terms.

The violence in Kerala is only due the intolerance of the CPM. If we check the history of political violence in Kerala on the one side there will be CPM and on the other there will be Congress, CPI, Muslim League and BJP or RSS.

Reply

M

mesh chakr

Jul 26, 2017 at 12:49 pm

Malayali pinnari vijayan do not want to support people from other communities. I hope even bengali communists understand the designs of these highly self centered people from south India. I do not see any reason why people from other communities to stay in CPM and work shamelessly for the welfare of this Malayali CM. I hope people from all other states quit communist parties and work with democratic parties and work for the development of India.

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Vaarun Mehra

Jul 26, 2017 at 6:58 am

Power hungry who wants to be in limelight would be cringing

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K

Khaled

Jul 26, 2017 at 2:53 am

One of the christian church converted brown nun from Islam who was booked under Protection of Children from Secxyual Act (Pocso) for helping the accused christian church converted brown priest Robin Vadakkumcherry of Kannur covering up the rape of a minor, has approached the Kerala High Court seeking an anti tory bail. Sister Ophilia is the Superintendent of the Christian NGO Holy infant Mary orphanage run to convert people at Wayanad, where the child of the rape survivor was taken immediately after the delivery. The 16-year-old rape survivor had given birth to the child at Christu Raj Hospital in Thokkilangadi and was shifted to the orphanage. Rape is an epidemic of Christianity and it all started when mother of Jesus, Mary was raped and Jesus had no idea who was his father. So Christians justify rape till today in the name of Jesus and Mary. Amen.

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V

Vaarun Mehra

Jul 26, 2017 at 7:00 am

Wonder what u say about 50 year old conman poppat married a 6 year old..

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S

Shijo

Jul 26, 2017 at 2:27 pm

Your comments shows your family values. Christians will worry about Jesus's father, need not you. You just take care of your iden y.

Communist have spoiled the India industries. And why we need a communists in the Democracy? Why these SHAMELESS people talk about Democracy? Do they have any SHAME? If they have, they should dissolve the party and create Indian parties.

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Ram

Jul 26, 2017 at 12:50 am

why commis who believe in party dictatorship and supression of all dissent as seen in China/N Korea etc. and who below power flows through the barrel of gun are allowed to be part of Indian politics? Like islamists, communists also use democracy/secularism etc. to subvert the same ins utions once they achieve power. No wonder, these two totalarian alien ideologies are always comrades in hand!